The Midwinter Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes: Three Adventures & The Grand Gift of Sherlock (35 page)

[387]
I have been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Hugo’s masterpiece.

[388]
This is presumably Mark Twain’s collection of short stories titled after the headliner story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was mentioned in Chapter XIII off the non-Canonical novel
The Gate of Gold
.

[389]
Holmes makes clear his opinion of Poe’s Dupin in Chapter I of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[390]
I have also been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Richardson’s masterpiece.

[391]
Mentioned in
The Five Orange Pips.

[392]
Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the First Star
.

[393]
Mentioned in Chapter I of the non-Canonical novel
The Ruins of Summer
.

[394]
Mentioned obliquely by Holmes in Chapter VI of
The Sign of Four
.

[395]
Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel
The Gate of Gold
.

[396]
Never mentioned by name, but clearly widely read and influential in provoking fears like those of Mr. Robert Ferguson in
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
.

[397]
I have been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Thackeray’s masterpiece.

[398]
Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel
The Gate of Gold
.

[399]
The mysterious Porlock sends a letter to Holmes which is encrypted using the
Almanack
in Chapter I of
The Valley of Fear
.

[400]
Mentioned in
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
& Chapter I of
The Valley of Fear
.

[401]
Mentioned in Chapter I of the non-Canonical novel
The Gate of Gold
.

[402]
Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the First Star
.

[403]
The first volume of the
Encyclopedia Britannica
was copied out by hand by Mr. Jabez Wilson in
The Red-Headed League
. Holmes also refers to it in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the First Star
.

[404]
At the time of
The Hound of the Baskervilles
(difficult to date precisely, but generally attributed to 1889), Watson specifically calls his shelf “small” (Chapter I).

[405]
Watson consults this in Chapter I of
The Hound of the Baskervilles
, when he looks up the record of Dr. James Mortimer.

[406]
Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle
.

[407]
We can presume this is the “recent treatise upon surgery” that Watson was deep into one “wild, tempestuous” November night before he and Holmes were called to investigate
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
. Interestingly, Dr. Joseph Bell (1837–1911) was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Medical School attended by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and was renowned for his skills at deducing diagnoses via close observation of his patients.

[408]
Dr. Armstrong’s treatise, which he was writing when interrupted by Holmes, was clearly not published until after the events set down in
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
. It is probably an update of the English physician Benjamin Marten’s “Theory of Consumption” (published in 1720) with the clinical implications of the findings of Robert Koch, the German physician who discovered the mycobacterium in 1882, plus Armstrong’s experience taking care of many afflicted patients, such as Mrs. Godfrey Staunton. This topic would have also been of great interest to Watson’s literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose first wife Louisa died of the disease in 1906. All copies of this work have unfortunately been lost.

[409]
Published in 1882, this may be the “latest treatise upon pathology” that Watson attempted to read after meeting Mary Morstan (Chapter II,
The Sign of Four
). Scrofula is an old term for a swelling of the lymph nodes of the neck caused by tuberculosis. Because of the medieval belief that it could be cured by a royal touch, it became known as the ‘King’s Evil.’

[410]
Mentioned in
The Resident Patient
.

[411]
Watson was reading this journal after breakfast when called upon by Holmes to join him in
The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk
.

[412]
The last two journals (
Lancet
, founded in 1823, and
Journal of Psychology
, founded in 1876) were mentioned as having published articles by Dr. James Mortimer (Chapter I,
The Hound of the Baskervilles
).

[413]
A black-letter edition is a volume printed in an early typeface, and suggests an antiquarian edition. Holmes is described as reading from one in both Chapter I of
The Sign of Four
and
The Red-Headed League
. Again, Holmes is likely being metaphorical here, as it is unlikely that every one of these volumes was printed in this fashion.

[414]
Presumably not the copy stolen from the Cunninghams in
The Reigate Squires
!

[415]
Mentioned in
The Adventure of the Three Students
.

[416]
Referred to by Holmes in both Chapter II of
A Study in Scarlet
and Chapter I of
The Sign of Four
.

[417]
Horace, mentioned by Holmes in
A Case of Identity
, would have been familiar to any English schoolboy of the time.

[418]
Watson was clearly familiar with the work, though he refers to it by its nickname, the ‘Arabian Nights,’ in both
The Adventures of the Noble Bachelor
and
The Three Gables
.

[419]
Holmes paraphrases from the eminent Persian poet Hafiz (or Hafez; c.1325–c.1389) in
A Case of Identity.

[420]
Mentioned in Chapter XXIII of the non-Canonical novel
The Isle of Devils
.

[421]
Mentioned in Chapter III of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[422]
Holmes reads from this on the train in
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
.

[423]
Referred to by Holmes in
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
.

[424]
Quoted by Holmes in Chapter VI of
The Sign of Four
.

[425]
Quoted by Holmes in Chapter VI of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[426]
One of  Miltons’s most famous sonnets, ‘On His Blindness’ is quoted in Chapter VI of the non-Canonical novel
The Isle of Devils
.

[427]
Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel
The Isle of Devils
.

[428]
Paraphrased by Holmes in
A Case of Identity
.

[429]
Holmes mentions one of Keats’ most famous works, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci,’ in
The Adventure of the Three Gables
.

[430]
Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle
.

[431]
It is not entirely clear which poem from this collection that Watson was familiar with. It may be an allusion to ‘Boadicea’ (as discussed in Chapter VI of the non-Canonical novel
The Isle of Devils
).

[432]
This collection contains the poem ‘Excelsior,’ loved by Holmes sufficiently to make it part of the motto of the firm in
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
, as well as ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus,’ mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the First Star
.

[433]
The final work in this volume was ‘Christmas Bells,’ mentioned in the non-Canonical tale
The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle
.

[434]
A paraphrase of
Hamlet
(Act II, Scene II): “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.”

[435]
Quoted by Holmes in
The Red-Headed League
, this classic biography would have been known by every British gentleman of the time.

[436]
Paraphrased by Holmes in Chapter III of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[437]
Referred to by Holmes in
A Study in Scarlet
: “Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell.”

[438]
Quoted by Dr. Mortimer in Chapter I of
The Hound of the Baskervilles
.

[439]
Although not mentioned by name, it is logical that Watson would have at least one book by a man he once esteemed sufficiently to have his portrait standing on top of his bookcase (
The Cardboard Box
).

[440]
Mentioned in Chapter II of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[441]
Commended to the attention of Watson by the Hugo Baskerville (Chapter II,
The Hound of the Baskervilles
).

[442]
Mentioned in Chapter V of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[443]
Holmes quotes an obscure French philosopher, Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, in Chapter VI of
The Sign of Four
. While possible that he and Watson may have been familiar with the phrase from the original source, more likely they knew of it from its appearance in Franklin’s pamphlets of 1741 and 1745.

[444]
Misquoted by Holmes in
The Red-Headed League
.

[445]
Mentioned in Chapter XII of the non-Canonical novel
The Isle of Devils
.

[446]
Holmes notes, perhaps sarcastically, that Watson has a “Machiavellian intellect” in Chapter I of
The Valley of Fear
.

[447]
This must be the source of Watson’s knowledge of the Copernican Theory, as outlined in Chapter II of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[448]
Quoted by Watson in Chapter II of
A Study in Scarlet
.

[449]
Read by Watson in Chapter II of
The Sign of Four
, upon the recommendation of Holmes.

[450]
Quoted by Holmes in
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor.

[451]
Cited by Holmes in
The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane
, we can only assume that Watson obtained a copy upon his reference.

[452]
These may be the last remaining copies of these books, all of which must have been printed in very limited quantities. They are now lost.

[453]
Mentioned in Chapter I of
The Valley of Fear
.

[454]
Dr. Mortimer must have expanded his published monographs (Chapter I of
The Hound of the Baskervilles
) into a full-length book after participating in that great mystery with Holmes and Watson.

[455]
From
The Adventure of the Empty House
. The name of the fifth volume has been lost.

[456]
Mentioned in
The Adventure of the Empty House
. While definitely still alive in 1902 (when he is mentioned in
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
), Holmes implies here that Moran had met his well-deserved end by 1918.

[457]
Not yet complete at the time of
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
, clearly Coram finished his great analysis of the documents from the Coptic monasteries of Syria and Egypt before he expired of a multitude of illnesses brought on by a case of severe tobacco poisoning.

[458]
Referred to by Holmes in
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
. Note that the Professor’s given name in never mentioned.

[459]
Mentioned in
The Adventure of the Priory School
.

[460]
Mentioned in
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
.